More Simple Pleasures

Oranges are in season, and we have been picking in our neighbor's grove. The juice is fabulous. B likes to help squeeze the orange juice from the fruit. The boys have always liked to squeeze the juice in years past, but maybe they figure it's time to turn it over to their sister now. I am so glad for fresh juice, vs. frozen that we buy in the grocery store. And with cold and flu season upon us, it's perfect timing!


We have also been enjoying this cute little guy. We picked him up when we were in GA earlier this month. He fits right in among our other moose hanging around the place. We have bags of shelled nuts in the freezer, which we eat from almost daily. But it's more fun for Mom to crack the nuts for the kids! It's even more fun to have to pick up the pieces that go flying around the room as they are cracked (kidding!) It's not so fun to step on a piece of nutshell that got missed on the floor. Picture bare feet since it's hot in FL.

Homemade bread is always a simple pleasure. I have found a pretty tasty gluten-free version that we like. It cooks up nice and tall and is very moist (at least for the first day!) I have made it before, but for some reason I could not get it out of the pan this time! No, I didn't forget to grease the pan. It was well oiled. Lest you think I am a perfect cook and baker, I will share this photo with you. We still ate it right up but our sandwiches were quite misshapen! This photo does NOT very clearly display the gaping hole in it's bottom, but it was huge.

And in our quest to incorporate more fresh produce into our diet, I have been asking the kids what kind of veges they want to see more of on the dinner table. My kids can't be normal! They have to like something expensive like fresh asparagus. I used to buy it so infrequently that I can only think of a couple times it ever graced our table. But now, with trying to enjoy more simple pleasures, it's been on the menu several times in the last month or two. Good thing I like it too! I am also glad to have found a fresh produce store in E which has much better prices than Publix.

Major Progress in Reading

We are celebrating today! As some of you know, our oldest son had some major difficulties learning to read. We discovered that he had some intolerance to both gluten and casein (milk protein) about 1 year ago. Once those were removed, he started to read by leaps and bounds. We were quite excited to find him reading at 2nd grade level, 3rd month at the end of May 2007. I just now had him take the same reading test online, and he tested at 4th grade, 3rd month. That means he progressed 2 whole grade levels in 6 months!! This also means that H is so close to being on track with his reading level, since he is in the 4th grade based on his age (when birthday fell, etc.). I am so excited I have tears in my eyes again as I write this. I cannot tell you how hard H has worked for this and I am so proud of him. Now we just have to work on his confidence and his endurance when it comes to reading. But it is major progress. We didn't forget to pray our Thanks to God, because He definitely helped us through the rough times with all this. There were many times we prayed 3 or 4 times just to get through a reading lesson. I am so excited, and we can't wait to tell hubby/dad when he gets home. He knows we have been working hard to catch H up to grade level. Thanks for sharing our joy at this good news.

Also, a little follow-up to H's goal to finish his math book by tomorrow. He is on track! He only has 15 math pages left to finish the whole book. He did 26 pages today so he would be "ahead" of schedule. It's wonderful to see him taking more initiative in his own learning.

I Bet I Have Nightmares Tonight

What am I thinking?!? I am watching Animal Planet right now. They are showing a program titled "The Big Squeeze". I do not like dangerous snakes. This show is recounting people's run-ins with Reticulated Pythons, Boas, and the like. This one guy, a zoo keeper, was killed by a 22 footer. With him dead on the floor, it proceeded to attack the other zoo keeper who was trying to rescue him. He kept hacking deep gashes into the snake with a knife. It didn't stop the snake from attacking. Somehow, the second guy managed to get away from the snake, and give CPR and revive the first victim. It's the formerly "dead" guy that tells his story on the show. Amazing! Some of the other stories on the show are of pet owners who were attacked by their giant snakes. One guy, owner of a 21 foot constrictor, had to call the cops to rescue him. They shot the snake, of course, and the owner maintains he "loved that snake". Another lady in Malaysia was attacked in the outhouse. The snake let her go because he couldn't drag her down the "potty hole". They said he wanted to eat her in the safety of a dark place. Lucky for her, she was large enough she wouldn't fit through the hole! I am so glad B went to sleep early tonight so I could watch the nightmarish show by myself. I don't need her having nightmares too.

Oh, boy. Now I'm watching crocodiles court and mate with each other. This should be interesting. "It takes quite a bit of passionate wrestling to get it right", says the narrator of the show.

Our Crazy Dog Charley

We got home from Thanksgiving dinner at C's brother's house and discovered that our beloved black lab was missing from our back yard. Our chocolate lab was home, but conspicuously alone. Now, I should tell you that our dog Charley was misnamed. We named her Charley because she was born on the eve of Hurricane Charley that hit the state of Florida. It also hit our old house pretty hard, shattering a window (what a mess that made!), downing some of our trees and branches, knocking down our fence, and messing with a few shingles. We were quite lucky, though, because many of our neighbors did not fair as well as us. So somehow, this dog received her name in commemoration of how God kept us safe in the storm. We will never forget that time in our lives. Why would we sometimes think that we should have called her something else? Because she's constantly getting out of where she's supposed to be. We jokingly call her Houdini based on her personality. It's been a constant battle for the 3+ years we have had her in our family.

Well, we all hopped on our Kubota ATV and drove around our property, and that of several surrounding neighbors. We kept calling for Charley, and searching for a black dog in sometimes dense shrubby land on a very black night. The Kubota is diesel and quite noisy, so we had to stop and turn off the engine while we called for her and listened for her response. Only trouble is, she's not much of a barker. Our chocolate lab Cocoa barks a lot. In fact she barks so much that we kept hearing her barking the whole time we were gone looking for Charley! Her voice really travels the distance. "You're not helping us find her, Cocoa!"

After about 45 min. of searching in the dark, we finally found her. She never did bark out to alert us. We ended up seeing her eyes shining in the light of the ATV. But we found her trapped! We live near a dried up lake (glorified pond!). There are a bunch of tall and thick cattails near the edge of our property. She likes to charge into them to see all the birds she can kick out of them. Evidently, she got through the cattails, and found herself in a fenced in open area, surrounded by cattails in every direction. She couldn't find her way out. It was dark outside so we couldn't see much either other than what the headlights of the Kubota would shine on depending on where we parked. Both boys had to climb over the fence and try and lift a 55 lb. wriggling dog up high enough that C could reach over the fence and grab her. They tried a few times and failed because Charley does not like to be picked up. She's her "own dog" and doesn't like people messing with her ears for cleaning, her toenails for clipping, or apparently her body for saving! The guys finally got her into the back bed of the Kubota, and we made our way home. But not without a scolding about how naughty she had been and why on earth couldn't she be a dog content to stay out of trouble? Instead, she remains, our Houdini.

So Much to be Thankful For

Each year at this time I like to reflect on the things I have to be thankful for. I have so many that I don't know where to start! And I'm bound to miss a few, but here are the bulk of them:

I am thankful for a God who loves ME, of all people. I am, after all, just a speck of dust in the Great Scheme of Things, but He sent His Son to die for me. That is something that I will spend an eternity contemplating.

I have a husband who loves me, and is faithful. He's smart and determined to make his way in the world. We can rely on him to take care of us. He's also good at what he does. I'm thankful he values me for my abilities as well without much criticism. I am thankful that my hubby allows me to stay home (for the most part) and homeschool our children. It's very important to me, and I am so glad he's supportive in this matter.

I am thankful for 3 wonderful children, each very different. This gives us a lot of "spice" in our lives. I am very thankful that we have discovered some health issues where all the kids are concerned. Although we may have a long way to go in certain areas, we have come very far in the past year. Progress is so important, especially if it helps to insure against much worse conditions in the future, which would definitely have resulted if not for our (partial) understanding of what was going on.

My own health is greatly improved. This may be one of the most prominent items in my mind right now concerning my thankful issues. It is amazing to me how sick I really was 2-3 yrs. ago (gluten intolerance, undiagnosed hypothyroidism, and hormonal deficiencies/imbalance.) Now that things are much improved, I find myself enjoying life SO much more. Not a day goes by that I don't marvel about all this. So, yes, I guess in a big way, I am even thankful for my illness because now I am more thankful for health itself.

I am thankful for our country home, which we just built this past year. It is not quite finished yet, but we are living in it. And we are thankful that it is in a rural country setting. We enjoy a lot of freedom that we value greatly, in part due to the stifling conditions of the particular subdivision and area of town that we came from farther south.

I am thankful for various family members and numerous friends.

And finally, some more superficial things to be thankful for:

• The public library system, which supplies audio books on CD and mp3 format
• An mp3 player to download free mp3 audio books onto
• Air conditioning in FL
• Modern bathroom facilities
• The Internet which sports "fast-food" information retrieval
• Tried and true gluten-free recipes and the GF pioneers who created them
• Homeschooling pioneers to learn from, so I don't have to "invent the wheel"
• Stories of our past; history to learn lessons from others' mistakes
• A second family car so I can run errands and attend field trips whenever I want

Well, that's quite a list. There are lots of other things that I am thankful for, but I have to call it quits sometime. It's getting late and I am thankful for a comfortable bed that is calling out my name.

Nothing Short of a Miracle!

My eldest, is by nature, unmotivated. Some would call it laziness, but I know in my heart it's something different. He seems to walk to the beat of a different drum. He does not fit anybody else's "box", but is always thinking, pondering, wondering about stuff, and off in his own little world. I have seen him get passionate about things before, and when he does, whew! Look at him go! I never know what is going to strike his fancy, and how long it will last, but it is always a whirlwind when it does hit. I know that these character traits can be a good thing if he so chooses, but that's the tricky part. He needs to be brave enough and motivated enough, and then actually choose the right way. I have done some reading about people like Thomas Edison. In fact, we saw a play about him about a year ago. H is so similar to him in so many ways. Edison even had trouble in school, was misunderstood by his teachers, and his mother pulled him out of school to homeschool him!

Now, H has never been in "real" school, but I shudder to think what it would have done to his self esteem if he had. I don't believe the average teacher would understand his differences like I do. Yet, do I even understand?? (And how could they? They are quite busy with 24 other kids to worry about. A friend of mine actually taught 33 second graders, without a teacher's assistant!! H. could very easily just slip through the cracks.) Then add to that H's sense of perfectionism, and he would be devastated if he were compared to other kids all day long.

I have to admit, even I get frustrated at times, since I can be quite stubborn, plodding along with my own blinders on about the way things *ought* to be! It's hard for me to get him motivated about anything. I have trouble determining the fine line between where he is, vs. where I think he should be, vs. where the world thinks he should be. Yeah, I know I shouldn't look at the world's perception of things. True enough. But now I am faced with wondering if I am doing right by him according to God's standards. He values the work ethic of the ant! The Bible states over and over how important it is to seek wisdom, to be productive, to do everything you do with all your might. But what if I can't get him to do *anything*? I mean really, sometimes it can take him an hour to complete a 10 minute job. He reminds me of a turtle or a snail, he's so slow. The sloth also comes to mind when describing him!

When it comes to school work, please don't get the idea that I am pushing too much too soon for him. He is a grade or two behind where he should be for his age. A large part of the reason for this was undiagnosed gluten and casein intolerance. He would get headaches and couldn't think straight. He was lethargic, complained of fatigue, and was quite mopey and even acting depressed! We took the offending foods out of his diet, and he began to read by leaps and bounds. His headaches were gone, and he reported a clear head as well. So, although things are much better than they were, it's still an issue to be dealt with, especially since we have to catch up, making up for lost time!

I have prayed long and hard about this for some time now. We have had discussions about how he is getting old enough that he needs to consciously pick his own path in life. Mom and Dad can't be with him 24 hrs. a day, for the rest of his life, to continually prod him along in the right direction. Choose productivity; choose a higher path; choose friends who encourage and build you up; choose excellence in all things! Just don't embrace apathy. Choosing nothing, by default, is choosing failure.

Well, I have good news to report. I have noticed improvements in this area. They may be nearly imperceptible at times, but they are improvements none the less. The other day, while I was in the shower and then dressing for the day, he sat down to do some school work all on his own. One subject had him stumped after a few pages, so he started on a second subject. He even influenced his younger brother to work on his school work too! (We have also longed for him to take a more active roll in encouraging his younger siblings instead of criticizing them.) This was just amazing to me, and I told him how proud of him I was. Now, just today, he told me he wanted to finish his math workbook in 6 days. We got out the calender and marked the days, giving him the weekend off. We did the math on the pages remaining in his book, and he has to do 22 pages every day to reach his goal, and thereby finish the book. I was a bit nervous with him setting such a lofty goal for himself. I know he doesn't need more failure. But today, he kept coming back to his open math book throughout the day, and actually completed 25 pages before he quit for the day. I corrected everything, and there were only a couple things that were incorrect.

So you see, I am quite excited about all this. I have been praying about his character flaws, and he knows it. I see him praying too, I just haven't asked him about what. But it's working! Yeah, it's starting to pay off. And thanks be to God above for these improvements. So, I will continue to pray for myself also; that God will grant me a few things: wisdom, patience, understanding, and LOVE for my son.

The Best Pinto Beans I Have Ever Made

Okay, guys. You all know that we eat a lot of beans in our family. I will try to write down the ingredients for what I did today. It worked very well, and I was quite pleased with myself. Maybe you will want to try them too.

1 large onion chopped fine
2 large cloves garlic, minced fine
2 jalapeno peppers (seeded) chopped fine
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2-3 cups water
1 large can (53 oz. family-size) prepared pinto beans
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. Mexican chili powder (hot variety)
3/4 to 1 tsp. salt? Maybe less. Sorry I didn't measure. Do it to your taste preference.

Put the water and veggies in a pan and boil them until most of the water has evaporated. This water allows your veggies to cook well without scorching them. (Use more water if necessary.) I chop the veggies very fine so the kids have a harder time knowing they are in there! Add your beans, and mash somewhat with a potato masher until desired consistency. Add your spices, and stir.

Yes, I used canned beans for this. I am clearing them out of my pantry. I will start cooking more of my own beans in future. Thanks M, for the heads-up on the frugality of such! My kids all raved about these beans, even my "picky" eater.

It's Cold Outside, so I Caved.

Well, last night was officially the coldest night we've had so far this season. I know that for a fact, because I finally turned on the heater this morning. When we built this house, we invested in better insulation, knowing it would pay for itself many times over in the years to come. Hubby and I have been curious as to how cold it would have to get, before we had to turn the heat on. The temperature outside this morning registered 41 degrees. I caved this morning when the temperature reading on the thermostat was teetering between 69 and 70. I turned it on to 70 degrees, and have been running the fire in the fireplace. So now the temp. registers 73 degrees. I am so glad that the insulation is doing it's job so well. I always rely on milder fall and spring weather to lower the electric bill and thereby help the budget situation. I hate the summer heat in Florida, but the rest of the year more than makes up for it!

Here is a picture of our blueberry nursery as it appeared this morning. There was so much steam coming off the plants, as their morning water was warmer than the ground.


So, I can't wait to tell hubby these details, as he monitors them with keen interest as well. We must be getting older, because funny stuff like this is so captivating to us now! Like levels of rainwater in the rain gauge, debates about county planning and the governor's promises to lower property taxes. There's also discussion about nationwide recession, the hoax of global warming and politics. 10 yrs. ago, all of this would have been considered topics of interest for the old and stodgy! Well, maybe 15 yrs. ago is more accurate. But here we are, old and stodgy ourselves! Where has the time gone?

Oh, why would I have to wait until later to tell hubby all these rapturous details? Because he left the house this morning at the insane hour of 1 a.m. Yes, it's the first day of the duck hunting season. I am SO glad he thought twice about taking the boys with him today. He'll wait until another day soon, when he can take them out around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. I believe this will be H's 3rd year to go out with him. So, from now until sometime after Christmas, I will be bunking with B on the nights that C plans to go out in the early mornings. It's quite an interruption to my way of life, but one that I am resigned to. My husband has a thirst for life, a driving force to experience so many things! Sometimes I don't always understand it. But that's okay, because I know that's who he is. He is a passionate person about living.

Family Dynamics

B has been called by others, "the rose between two thorns". I have mixed feelings about that saying. Yes, she is definitely a rose, so innocent and sweet. But my boys aren't necessarily thorns. However, being the youngest of 3 kids, and the only daughter of our family, she does indeed hold a special place in our hearts.

Before B came along, my hubby was known to say that, for us "Two kids is more than enough!" Once B joined our family, we certainly wouldn't ever dream of sending her back, but I am awestruck at God's wisdom to send her our way. People would often tell me that I needed a little girl because I "only" had 2 boys. I used to get a little upset by that. First of all, I had 2 wonderful, healthy boys, and a husband who loved me. What more could I want? That is so much more than some people have. I am so blessed. Secondly, what were they saying about the boys, anyway? That they weren't terrific kids whom I loved with my whole heart? When we found out we were expecting again, baby #3, H said that God would send us a girl because He knew that we needed a sister. Oh, the wisdom of a 5 yr. old boy! Yes, we needed a girl in our family, and we had yet to find out why.

It's amazing what she does for our family dynamics. She's still such a little girl, yet her influence is tremendous. We needed rescuing, of sorts, at least I did. How can one little girl accomplish that huge feat? Well, she helps bring our family into balance. With a husband who is very strong and "manly", and two hearty boys following in his footsteps, I might have been highly misunderstood. Add to that the fact that my hubby never had any sisters, so his understandings of the female gender were probably somewhat lacking, to put it mildly. : ) And I have never been good at explaining things to hubby. Somehow I feel like he should just *know* in his heart what makes me tick! That's horrible on my part, I know, but I can't help it. I still have lots of scars from childhood that are healing. But now, my husband can see how different our daughter is from our sons. This translates into how different I am from "the guys", because I am a girl too!

And the reverse is also true. Because we see how different B is from the boys, I can understand my boys so much better than I ever could have without her in our family. I also appreciate my husband a lot more too since she arrived. In truth, a lot of this lack of understanding about gender differences is because I didn't have a brother growing up, nor did I have the influence of a reliable, encouraging father figure for most of my upbringing. (I had a step-dad eventually, but not during the formative years. The damage had already been done.) How thankful I am, that God saw the gap in our family, and knew that we needed B. She helps my husband and boys appreciate me more, and she certainly helps me appreciate them too!

Now, I am by no means saying that other families have the same requirements, or needs that we had. I never tell someone that they must have a girl (or boy) in their family to make it complete. It really is a God-thing. He knew what was best for us, and provided it for us, even before we even knew what our need was! I also believe that sometimes God provides in very different ways, whether it be via understandings, healing, friends, or experiences, to fill in the gaps. It is not always with another child. Every family, every situation, is very different.

Fresh or Frozen, That is the Question

Several of my blogging buddies have been discussing the differences between fresh vs. frozen vegetables. They're also discussing meal planning and budgeting, etc. On the one hand, fresh vegetables are more healthful (though maybe minimally?), and tasty. Frozen, however, seem to be more convenient and probably more inexpensive. I am trying to put my opinion about such matters onto paper.

I have never thought myself to be a "meal planner". I have not been organized enough, I guess. I also have a situation where my husband is never getting home at a consistent time every day. He says that since he owns his own business, he doesn't just "punch the time clock" like someone working 9-5, or whatever. So, given this uncertainty, I know that I would get frustrated with having planned meals that invariably would not hold over until he got home. His inconsistency has required me to be more flexible, and less regimented. I would like to have more certain plans sometimes, but I do the best I can.

So, given all this, I think it has caused me to be more fly-by-night, of sorts. I am trying to reign it in somewhat, and as I look at being more organized, and trying to "change the things I can", I have thought about meal planning, etc. I am realizing that I do plan more than I realize. But my planning is a little different than making menus out before I go shopping. I kind of do it backwards. I go to the grocery store and see what they have "Buy one, get one free.". If there are really good deals, I stock up on things that will keep. As hubby has pointed out to me before, "It costs the same to put gas in the car, whether it be to keep a full tank or to run on empty." Same goes for the pantry. We also don't live 5 minutes from the grocery store, so a well-stocked pantry is very handy.

I also go to the produce store in E. and purchase any fruit and vegetables that are in season, and therefore have a very good price. That's what we will be eating the next week or so. If I have purchased fresh vegetables that are in danger of going bad before we can eat them, they will go in a container in the freezer for use in a vegetable soup later on. This way they don't go to waste.

We tend to eat fresh veggies when we can (if the price is right), and make use of frozen fruit and veggies for the rest of the time. I am also lucky in the fact that I have access to a Costco. I shop there on the days I go into the big city for work. They have fabulous prices on frozen fruit for breakfast smoothies, frozen vegetables, and several varieties of economical nuts and dried fruit. I am so thankful for these, as we use these frequently as staples to our diet.

Anyway, this whole discussion has been very interesting to me. Thanks, friends!

Life's Simple Pleasures

I have an annoying, odd, and even quirky habit. It sometimes drives me nuts! I have the tendency to hoard treats, or special stuff. I have done this my whole life. When I was a kid, if I got a rare (as in the "once in a blue moon" frequency) candy or bubblegum treat, I would often save it for later, savoring the idea of tasting it later, only to have the treat go stale. Worse yet, I often lost them, or had them swiped by my little sister! I still do this as an adult. If I have a special soap, I don't use it too often because I don't want it to run out! If I have a favorite perfume, I don't wear it until there's a special occasion. Well, my life is not exceptionally exciting, and "special" occasions don't come around very often. My special perfume, or whatever it is, will turn a nasty odor on me, and I no longer like it 15 yrs. later. Why do I do this? Every time I have to throw something out because it's not good anymore, it's a reminder in how crazy it is to save everything for later. I'll have to locate the verse, but the Bible even speaks about storing up (hoarding)treasures here on earth, where thieves and robbers may steal them, or moths destroy them.

So, since I have been pondering on this a lot lately, I have vowed to try and seize opportunities TODAY to do special little things with my kids. It may be something very simple, like trying a new variety of fruit that is always "too expensive" to buy. We recently scarfed down a pomegranate. It was delicious! The kids felt special for the treat, and that made them warm and open.

Another idea I am putting in place, is to actually play a family game together. It's crazy, I know, but I guess I have had the mentality that if I provided fun and educational games and hands-on projects in our home, that the kids would pull them out and use them while I was busy. It hasn't been happening on their own, so I am endeavoring to sit down and do these things with them. It has been fun, and it often seems to spark enough interest that they will go back to these projects or games later without me, when I am busy paying bills or getting my morning shower, etc. I guess kids can get in a rut, too, and just need a little nudge now and then, with some new ideas to build on.

We have been putting on special music for chore times, and even during free time between school work. I have all these lovely Christian and classical music CD's on the shelf, but we never listen to them. Why? Laziness to change out the CD's or even just turn on the stereo? Or is it just because I don't think about it? I guess I have a heavy dose of "out of sight, out of mind" mentality. It is not often enough that I will "stop and smell the roses." I must have been inadvertently passing this thought process on to my kids as well.

Recently, when I was at K's house, she offered me a cup of tea. Now, I have always enjoyed herbal tea, but I never make it! It's such a simple thing to do! So, the kids and I have been having mini-tea parties. It's so much fun to try different kinds of tea, and sample new flavors. And I already had all these tea varieties in my cupboard, just sitting there waiting for me to drink them. And who knows.....they might have tasted even better if they were fresh. Anybody know the shelf life of herbal teas?

Oh, and I almost forgot. The above picture is of our fireplace. We enjoyed our first fire tonight in our new house. It's going to be chilly tonight! My hubby said that it's finally feeling like "home" since we lit the fire. And he's SO glad that we went with the real wood-burning fire, and not the gas "fake" fire.

Preparing for Advent

I attended an Advent Workshop last night with a friend of mine. Thanks H for telling me initially, and to M for the reminder! What is an Advent Workshop? Well, it was a talk and a demonstration presented by a Christian mother with a wish to share her family's special Advent traditions with other families. Advent is the time leading up to Christmas. She was so energetic and inspiring. I can't wait to implement some of her ideas with my own family. I have always tried to present Christmas as the observation of Jesus' birth. I know it is not His real birthday, but I would still rather reinforce the memory of Jesus' magnificent gift to us, than focus on the commercialized counterfeit version of Christmas. I don't want my kids to grow up materialistic and shallow. How much better if they could be generous and giving of themselves, spreading Christ's cheer to others.

So, now the task of putting some ideas into practice. This part may be a little more tough. I am not a "traditions" kind of gal. Maybe because of my personality, maybe my own upbringing, or even having a hubby that isn't very sentimental? (He has even been called a "humbug" before, by various friends and family members, though not by me, of course!!) I will attempt to have enough enthusiasm to carry my family through some new ideas. I'm off to find an advent wreath and some candles. I will use our flannel graph set in lieu of a nativity set. It should work just fine!

Bits and Pieces of Today

We had several things happen today that I can write about. First, we attended our last orchestra class. Today targeted the strings section. The gentleman holding the class brought his cello and his violin. He was very good and the kids could tell he had a genuine interest in them. He said his cello was worth $82,000.00 dollars. Yes, you read that right. His cello is also 215 yrs. old. That's amazing to me. The most expensive violin (or was it cello? can't remember!) sold for almost 10 million dollars, which is even more amazing. The most entertaining thing the teacher did today for the kids, was to play samples of all manner of different types of music: jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, heavy metal, and of course, classical. The kids, as well as the parents, had a great time trying to figure out what he was playing. Some of the songs were pretty deceptive and hard to recognize, since he could only play one line of the song, unlike the actual recorded piece like it may appear on the radio.

Before we left, the official orchestra people discussed with us HS moms that they may be willing to start some orchestral shows at a discounted price here in our county. They would be held in MD at a certain church which can hold quite a few people. So, we will be watching for those developments.

We came home, ate, and then did some school work after lunch. We were temporarily interuppted by a plethora of birds outside our window. We tried to identify several species of small birds, all catching bugs in the grass. We also saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. We are glad to see them, as we have seen them before, but sparingly. We need to look into getting a birdhouse for them and see if they will move in. A couple hours later, we discovered the Robins have migrated through! We see them every year about this time. We counted upwards of 100 Robins in our front yard alone. It is common for them to be in a large group when they first come through, but then only a handful remain near our home the entire winter.

We also saw some escapees from our front window. Our neighbors across the way had a couple goats he had to relocate to another neighbor's property. (I can't tell you their names because then you would know where we live! They are named after the town....) Anyway, I knew they weren't supposed to be back so knew they must have escaped and come back home. We drove over to the new owners' house, and sure enough, they had gotten loose. We volunteered to help capture and relocate them, and proceeded to do so. It went well, and went back home for supper.

No sooner had we gotten started with supper preparations, when hubby came home and announced he had to go pick up our neighbor's teenage son's car. It was sitting stranded a couple blocks away. I later discovered, by talking to his mother, that he had just had an entire brake job completed on his classic car. New disc brakes, maybe? Evidently, the installers botched the job. While he drove it home, the father, who was following behind him, called on the cell phone and frantically informed him of a fire ball shooting flames from under the car! They pulled over, and managed to put the fire out with an extinguisher and massive handfuls and kicking of dirt that they threw on the flames. My hubby loaded up the car in his trailer and hauled it back to their house. They are next door neighbors to us. So, we are thankful that he is safe. It could have happened on the interstate, but happened close to home, on a dirt road, no less. Thankfully it did!

And finally, B caught a lizard on her own. She is quite proud and excited about the whole thing. She is no stranger to critters, and likes to hold all sorts of stuff. Must be that having 2 older brothers wears off on her.

Close Call, But Safe

This afternoon, we took a drive to visit my husband's parents at their home. It was a nice visit, and too soon we were on our way home. We had no sooner gotten on the freeway when somebody veered into our lane and sideswiped us on the road! C pulled the truck to the side of the road, and both vehicle's drivers got out to inspect the damage. I admit, I was a little nervous to see the other car was an "ex-cop car" with a spot-light mounted above the driver's-side side view mirror. It was dark outside, and for some reason I had visions of road rage or something. I calmly told the kids to offer up their prayers for safety, and sweet little B said her prayer out loud while I said mine silently. There is nothing that warms my heart like a little child's sweet prayer to Jesus. As it turns out, there was no damage to our truck, but there were plenty of black tire scuffs down the side of the other guy's car. My husband always says he feels safer with us in the truck. In this instance, it was definitely so. Thank you, Jesus.

Then, after we were back on the road, we witnessed a car weaving all over the road. I really hate to see drunk drivers on the streets. And it was only 8:30 p.m. Just another instance of why it's good practice to pray for protection on the roads.

And speaking of prayer, I am happy to know that my oldest son has his very first prayer partner. He's another boy his same age, and they have issues that are very common to them both. H is taking this promise to pray for his friend seriously. It warms my heart. I have noticed H taking more of an interest in heavenly matters lately, and I am so thankful for that. I am so blessed.

Rescue of a Little Bitty Bird

First thing this morning, we discovered a sweet little bird trapped within our pool screen enclosure. This has happened several times before, so we are used to it. It often doesn't end well since many times our dogs get ahold of the bird before we can. (We have discovered mocking birds, cardinals, a bluebird, bluejay, a dove, and even a humming bird.) But this time, we chased the poor little bird for close to half an hour before it was all over. We had all 4 screen doors opened hoping the bird would spot an opening to the outdoors, but he didn't. You should have seen C and me chasing him around with long-handled brooms hoping to shoo him out the door! The dogs were chasing him too, but the bird was careful to stay up high enough to keep out of the dogs' grasps. This whole time, 4 yr. old B kept praying over and over for Jesus to protect the sweet little bird, hands folded and eyes closed, sitting on her tricycle. Just when I was getting quite tired of the whole thing (hey, there was a lot of chasing going on, and it was frustratingly exhausting!), I went inside to try and recruit my hubby. I figured he might be able to reach out and grab him, since he's considerably taller than me, by almost a foot. That's right about the time the little bird started getting careless, surely from pure exhaustion and fright, and lost a lot of altitude. No sooner did I get indoors to beg for help, when I heard a scream from C. Our 80 lb. dog had the bird in her mouth! Hubby saw the whole thing through the window. The dog gave the bird up after several seconds, but only after some whacks on her back with the broom from C. coming to the bird's rescue! Can you see it in your mind's eye? So now we've got the other son H helping to restrain the dogs, while the bird hops around on the porch. Poor thing lost several feathers in the scuffle with the dog. I didn't know if it could still fly, or even if it was injured or not. Hubby's calling out, "Just reach out and grab it!" Believe me, I kept trying, but even in its stunned state, it kept evading my grasp. Finally, I got the bird, and took him to the door. He was able to fly, but only to my husband's truck parked nearby. He lodged himself in between the hood and the bug shield. He sat there several minutes, and then flew to the tree above. I hope he didn't sustain internal injuries from the clamping down of Cocoa's jaws. And in true homeschooling fashion, we went and looked in the bird book to try and identify the bird. We believe he was a Song Sparrow. It's funny how we were chasing him for so long, but don't feel like we got a very good look at him because of all the excitement!

In Search of Fall Foliage

Living where we do, there aren't many opportunities for appreciating the autumn colors. So we headed to Georgia to find some! The locals in North Georgia claim the colors are not as vibrant this year for some reason; maybe it's the drought they've been enduring the past 2years, or that the temperatures didn't chill soon enough, or both. But the colors were still pretty to us. We spent much of our time in Georgia driving through the mountains, in active pursuit of the reddest and the orangest leaves we could find.The kids were surprised to see different colored leaves. Now they are bugging us to take them to see snow this winter, as they haven't witnessed it before either!

We had so much fun on our mini-vacation, but we actually came back home a whole day early on accident! Hubby blames me, and I guess it was mainly my fault. Somehow I just got the dates mixed up in my head. I must confess, I was a little worried that we would miss our field trip to the local TV station! (More on that later.)

While in Georgia, we visited a family's personal model train collection. They boast the largest "O-guage" model train setup in the country. It was absolutely fabulous, and the details were outstanding. They had replicas of several local towns, as well as some national landmarks. Here is a picture of the town of Blairsville, GA, with the tower of Brasstown Bald in the background. After the train museum, we drove up to Brasstown Bald to see it for ourselves. It is the highest elevation point in Georgia.